Armed and Clumsy: The Ancestors: 1

How far back do the roots of Chuck's "Armed and Clumsy" category extend? The Wikipedia entry on handguns says: "The first handheld firearms that might better be called "pistols" were made as early as the 15th century..." Could we find a report of some soldier of the era accidentally wounding himself? It's a challenge!

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

It's no help because I cannot source it. But one history of firearms included an incident of an accidental discharge of a wheellock pistol in Pistoia, Italy in the early 16th Century. Some guy showing off his new toy to a prostitute shot her non-fatally. The court fined him and had him pay her medical bills. That would have been just as the wheellock was becoming available. The first firearms one could carry loaded and ready without needing a match to set them off.

Posted by eddi on 03/10/17 at 10:39 PM

Darwinism at work...

Posted by Brian on 03/11/17 at 09:13 AM

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